Much snorting as Diana's lover faces cocaine charge

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"Once a cad, always a cad." That was how one Buckingham Palace confidant gleefully greeted the news that James Hewitt, the late Princess Diana's most infamous love rat, had been arrested for suspicion of possessing cocaine after a raid on a trendy west London bar.

"Couldn't happen to a nicer person," he added, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The man's got no shame whatsoever. Since he broke cover he's gone through life almost untouchable, but this time he's crossed the line and he's been fingered."

Fingered, it seems, by the very people - London's voracious paparazzi - Hewitt had evaded for five years as Diana's secret lover and then courted as he sold his inside story to the highest tabloid bidder (the News of the World for £1 million.)

For virtually the entire population of Britain, Hewitt became an overnight cad, bounder, love rat and much worse. Now, 10 years on, there is a sense that he may be about to get his comeuppance.

Police arrested Hewitt, 46, and his girlfriend, Alison Bell, 37, a TV news presenter, at the Cactus Blue bar in Chelsea on Wednesday night, reportedly after a tip-off from a photographer.

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She, in a royal twist so beloved of Britain's tabloid press, is a former, short-term girlfriend of Prince Edward.

As they were released on bail after a night in the cells, the media pack outside the police station in Notting Hill revived memories of the frenzy that used to surround Diana.

One woman described the pack as frightening.

"It was like a safari, with animals clawing at the car." Earlier this year Hewitt was arrested for allegedly assaulting a photographer outside his South Kensington home.

Yes, just like old times.

Hewitt, a former cavalry officer and Gulf War veteran, would expect little public sympathy over his latest foray into the headlines.

In a recent TV documentary he admitted being "a complete shit". He has shown no remorse for cashing in on his affair with the princess. Last year he tried to sell her love letters for up to £10 million after previously promising never to sell them.

As he found it harder to recapture celebrity status, Hewitt said: "I think it might be irresponsible not to sell them." The rat had struck again.

Hewitt first met the princess at a Mayfair party in 1986 and she engaged him to give her riding lessons. Her marriage to Prince Charles was in crisis as the heir to the throne renewed his interest in Camilla Parker Bowles. An affair developed between the princess and the cavalry officer the year after. It ended in 1992.

Two years later Hewitt was revealed as the source for Anna Pasternak's 1994 book, Princess in Love, a steamy, Mills & Boon re-telling of the affair. Extract: "He kissed her tenderly, romantically. He was hungry for her, but suspected that this soft nurturing was all that she wanted, all that she expected. ... Diana stood up and without saying a word stretched out her hand and slowly led James to her bedroom."

The princess told the BBC a year later: "I adored him. Yes, I was in love with him. But I was very let down."

But the Sandhurst-trained former major can still cut quite a dash with the opposite sex. Bell, who has worked for CNN and Sky and started her career in New Zealand radio, met Hewitt three months ago when he appeared on a TV program with her.

He has been romantically linked with several high-profile women on the London social scene, including the wealthy divorcee Kate Simon and a TV personality, Sarah Kozer.

Bell and Hewitt could face lengthy jail sentences. Possession of cocaine carries a maximum seven-year term, while supplying carries life. It is unclear how much of the drug was allegedly involved, although such sentences are unlikely if the couple were only engaged in recreational use.

However, no matter what happens, Hewitt has already been sentenced - as Diana's sad cad.